No Contract, No Payment? How to Get Paid With No Written Agreement in the UK

"They're refusing to pay, and we never signed anything." If that's the sentence running through your head right now, take a breath first: it's very rarely as bad as it feels.

UK law does not require a contract to be written down, signed, or stamped for it to be real and enforceable. If you agreed a job, did the work, and can show it, you almost certainly have everything you need to chase this properly: no solicitor, and no signature, required to get started.

This particular panic is extremely common, and it usually strikes freelancers and small agencies hardest: work that starts on a quick phone call, a couple of emails, or "just get started and I'll sort the paperwork" from a client who never quite does.

It feels like a mistake you can't undo. It isn't. The law was never built around the assumption that every agreement gets typed up and signed before anyone lifts a finger. Most small business dealings in the UK happen exactly the way yours did, and the law accounts for that.

1. What actually makes a contract, and why silence isn't one

A contract, in English law, is nothing more than an agreement with four things present: an offer, an acceptance of that offer, something of value exchanged in both directions (your work for their money), and an intention by both sides to be legally bound by what they agreed.

Nothing in that list requires paper, a signature, or a document headed "Contract." A quote you sent that got a reply of "yes, go ahead" is an offer and an acceptance. The work you then did, and the payment they owed in return, is the consideration. That's a contract: a real one, exactly as enforceable as a fifteen-page document with both names printed at the bottom.

The general position, set out clearly by the Small Business Commissioner's own guidance for small businesses, is that a contract is simply a clear agreement between two parties about what each will do, supply, or pay, and it doesn't need to be written to exist, though writing it down is always the safer habit.

There's one notable exception worth knowing so you don't misapply this too broadly: contracts for buying, selling, or transferring an interest in land must be in writing to be valid. An invoice for freelance work, consultancy, or goods supplied isn't that, and falls squarely under the general rule.

2. What counts as evidence when nothing's in writing

You don't need a contract document: you need a trail. Most freelancers already have one without realising it, scattered across email, messaging apps, and their own sent-invoices folder. Gather what you have under these headings before you chase:

None of this needs to be a formal exhibit bundle. Screenshots of a WhatsApp conversation, a forwarded email thread, and the invoice you already sent are usually enough to establish exactly what a signed contract would have: what was agreed, by whom, and for how much.

3. Statutory interest still applies: no contract required

Here's the detail that surprises most people: your right to charge interest on the overdue amount doesn't depend on a written contract either.

Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, statutory interest and fixed compensation are implied automatically into a qualifying UK business-to-business debt: currently 11.75% a year (the Bank of England base rate plus 8%), plus £40 to £100 in fixed compensation depending on the size of the debt. None of that needs to have been written down or even mentioned before the work started.

That means the total you're entitled to chase isn't just the original invoice amount: it's the invoice, plus interest calculated daily from the day it became overdue, plus the fixed compensation. For the current rate, the exact calculation, and a worked example, see our guide to statutory interest and compensation on late payments, or use our free late payment interest calculator to work out the exact figure for this invoice.

4. How to chase payment when there's no contract

The wording only needs one adjustment from a normal chase: instead of referencing "the contract," reference the specific messages, dates, and deliverables that show what was agreed. This does two jobs at once: it chases the payment, and it quietly puts your evidence on the record in case this ever needs to go further.

Notice what the letter does: it names the actual evidence rather than apologising for not having a contract. That's a small shift in framing, and it matters: you're not asking for a favour, you're pointing at proof.

5. If they still won't pay

An unwritten agreement doesn't change the escalation path: it just changes what you attach as proof at each stage. If a firm chase doesn't work, the next step is a letter before action, referencing the same evidence: the emails, the delivered work, the invoice, and the statutory interest now added. Courts don't expect a signed contract to bring a debt claim; they expect you to show what was agreed and that you can back it up.

If it comes to Money Claim Online, the claim form itself doesn't ask whether you had a written contract: it asks what's owed and why.

You'll attach or refer to the same evidence you've been using throughout: the emails or messages that show the agreement, the invoice, and proof the work was delivered.

Undefended claims on genuinely unwritten but well-evidenced agreements succeed routinely; the absence of a signature isn't a defence in itself, and a debtor who tries to use it as one still has to explain away the emails. See our small claims court guide for exactly how that process works, from filing to judgment.

Read the full process, including what your letter before action must contain and what happens if that's ignored too, in our letter before action guide and our complete guide to chasing an unpaid invoice in the UK.

6. Prevent this next time

You can still get paid this time without a written contract. But make sure this is the last time you have to. A short confirming email before you start, scope, price, and payment terms in a few bullet points, turns any future dispute from "prove what we agreed" into "check the email," and costs you nothing but two minutes.

A deposit, taken upfront on anything above a token value, does even more work: it filters out clients who were never going to pay reliably before you've sunk any time into the job, and it gives you a part-payment on file if things ever do go wrong.

A short written scope, agreed payment terms, and a basic credit check on new clients cost you almost nothing to set up and prevent most of these disputes before they start.

Issuing invoices through accounting software such as Sage^(affiliate) instead of an ad hoc document also builds a timestamped record of what was billed and when, exactly the kind of evidence this guide keeps coming back to.

7. FAQ